Binding machine



Nov. 16, 1943.

c. B. NELSON ET AL 2,334,433 I BINDING MACHINE Filed Oc t. 16, 1959 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov. 16, 1943. c. B. NELSON ETAL 2,334,433

BINDING MACHINE Filed Oct. 16, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 6 mum Patented Nov.16, 1943 eiivnmc MACHINE Christian B. Nelson and Isidore SpinnerChicago, Ill., assignors to Plastic Binding (lornfllfaitl in Chicago,111:, a corporation; or Delaware Application as 16, 1939,; Serial No.299,612 1 clai (01. 11-1.)v

This invention relates generally to binding machines and moreparticularly to machines of the type shown in our Patent No. 2,108,136issued February 15, 1938. The machine ofthe present invention is usedfor inserting a resilient tubular binder into a pack of perforatedsheets tube secured by the binder. One binder which may be used with thepresent machine is illustrated in United States Patent No. 1,970,285,issued August 14, 1934, to R. M. L. Douvry. The binder comprises a backhaving a number oi fingers extending therefrom and curled to a tubularform. The material has sufficient resiliency to permit the fingers to bespread open to receive a stack of pages and upon release will resume thecurled form under their own resiliency.

The machine of the present invention facili tates the spreading open ofsuch a binder, holds it in its uncurled position while a pack of periorated sheets is placed in proper position for bind ing, retains thefingers in aligmnent durin -uh,- curling thereof, and allows the fingersto recur-1 and pass through the perforations in the aligned sheets. Itis one of the objects of the present invention to provide a machine ofthe above mentioned character wherein the resilient binder may bereadily inserted in place and quickly uncurlesl for receiving the stackof pages. In the emhodi ment of the invention herein illustrated theuncurling operation is performed by inserting a wire longitudinallythrough the curled tubular ,form and then gripping the wire at a numberof places between teeth and drawing the wire away from the back of thestack to cause the wire to uncurl the teeth. It is one of the objects of:the present invention to provide a simple and :rapid means forinsertion and removal of this-wire.

When binders of the above mentioned ehare.

acter are uncurled, particularly binders oi large diameter, the freeends of the teeth are at a considerable distance from the back of thebinder. Any small amount of side movement of the teeth will bring theends of the teeth out of alignment with the perforations in the stack ofpages, thus rendering difficult the insertion of the binder teeththrough the stack of pages. It is one of the objects of the presentinventionto provide a machine which will hold the individual teethagainst side movement during the uncurling and recurling operations,thus assuring the maintenance of proper alignment between the ends ofthe teeth and the perforations in the stack of pages.

, .I t is a further object-of the present invention .55

to. r vide a ma in q t e ab ve mentioned chara ter w ich n he u ed. o ils t hs. i ilfilfi at very large d ame er and also. iq es lhe hinders xeed ngly small diame e withq i requir ng any adjustmen of th ma hin attahznsn i the share and ihr h r 9hiects o th present ih entioh' i ll heappa ent 15mm th l pwi neeifl a 'qh takes in a i hction with theacsqmpahv he d aw n s with: ins ar hereof- ;In the awin s;

Fi u e is a pers ective n w or ,PQTfiQl 9 a binde used ith he mach ne oithe present invention;

gur 2 i a p an view 91 a binding mach ne emb dying the principles of thep esent investion; 1

Figu e 2A is an nlarg d plan iew of a ear; of the top plate of Figure 2;

. Figur 3 is a front v w o the of "Ei u e2;

. Fig 4 i a e t o a v ew taken shes he line 4.-4 ofr'ieu 2 sho in h mehanism normal or released position;

Figure is a v c espondi g to Fi ure e an how g the m h ism n e et d Psitioms d view eing taken aloe: the-ilme i-rt of Figure '2 i ig s 6 is ne a ge s c iona View showin the re ati c t ee the spreade hihs s id thehook supports when a binder'has been inserted through a stack of sheets;

Fi u e is anv lare d i eeme ta y er pe tive view showing the position ofthe binder in the machine;

Figure 8 is a sectional view line 8-8 of Figure 3;

F gure '9 is gm n a y io l Vi w along the line 9 9 of Figure 3;

Figure '10 is ,a sectional view taken along the a en a ong th -Fig-ure11 is a plan view of a spring'hoek before the same has been bent-toshape,

Like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the specificationand drawings.

Referring to "Figure :l, the binder i consists of a band or stripforming aback portion 3 and a plurality of uniformly spaced apartfingers"The binder is made of suitable material which can be cur d n ualQll illd llfi i blli ar a shown. whi h has suflisient exibil ty t Pe mitspreading 999 .11 sllh ei h rss hehq to cause it to mend unde it heywhen released. It has-been isms; that e 9e ai 1 E11 9f lllll0i materia 51 1 2 :PYIQXBCUQ Ry in each corner of the top plate.

to house and support the various machine parts. An operating shaft 6 isjournaled in the sides of the main frame and is turned by a foot pedaloperating lever I keyed thereto and connected by a pivot pin 8 to aconnecting rod 6 that is adapted to connect with a foot treadle. Aplurality of operating levers It], in this instance two, are each vkeyed at one end to the operating shaft 6. At its opposite end eachlever I6 has a round hole therethrough in which is journaled a circularshank II of a slide block I2. The shank is integral with the slideblock. The slide block slides in a milled groove or slot I3 in the headof a guide rod I4. A front guide pin I6 is provided with a threadedshank I5 at its rear end, which threaded shank threads into a threadedbore in the head of the guide rod I4. Each front guide pin I6 slidesthrough a hole I! in the front of the frame 4, and each guide rod I4slides through a hole |8 in the rear of the main frame 4, the main framethereby supporting the guide rods and guide pins. Upon rotation of theshaft 6 in a counter-clockwise direction the crank I0 moves the guiderod |4 forwardly. A pair of lock nuts I9 are adjustably threaded on eachguide rod I4 and limit the forward movement of the guide rod by abuttingagainst the back of the main frame 4. Springs 26 are provided foreffecting a return movement of the guide rods.

A hook support carrier bar 2| fits against the forward end of the headof the guide 'ro-ds I4 and is provided with oversized openings throughwhich the threaded shanks I5 of the front guide pins I6 extend. Theheads of the two front guide pins I6 serve to clamp the hook supportcarrier bar against the head of the guide rods I4 thus holding the hooksupport carrier bar 2| .in position. A.plurality of spreader hooksupports 22 are secured to the hook support carrier bar 2 I, as byindividual pairs of screws 23 passing through the respective spreaderhook supports. The top of each spreader hook support 22 is beveled offat an angle approximately 45, as may be seen in Figures 6 and 7. Aspreader hook 25 is secured to each spreader hook support 22 in anydesired manner, as by screws 26. Each hook 25 consists of a piece ofspring steel 21, illustrated more fully in Figure .11, having a slot 28therein. The strip of spring metal 21 is bent upon itself to lie on thebeveled surface of the hook support' A top plate 30 is suitably securedto the top of the main frame adjacent the front of the frame, in anydesired manner as by four screws 3|, one The top plate has a number ofuniformly spaced grooves 32 A row of spring wire spreader pins 35 aremounted in the plate 33, a pin being located at the back of each ridge33 and at the back of each slot 34, all the pins 35 being in alignment.The spreader pins 35 are press fitted into circular 'holes in the topplate 36 and are uniformly spaced apart the same as the spacing betweenthe fingers 3 of the comb or binder. Each spreader pin 35 has arearwardly extending semi-circular kink or curve 36 therein adjacent thebase thereof, that is, adjacent the top plate 30, for a purpose whichwill be apparent as this description proceeds. r

When the machine is in its normal released position the spreader hooks25 are in the p0 sitions illustrated in Figures 6 and 7, with respect tothe spring wire spreader pins 35. The width of the slot 28in the eye ofthe spreader hook 25 is sufficient to'enable the slot 28 to embrace thepin- 35, as may be seen from Figure 6. For this purpose the slot 28 ismade of a width only slightly in excess of'the diameter of the spreaderpin 35. The circular eyes 29 ofthe respective spreader hooks 25 are inalignment with another so that a rod or wir '40 may be passed throughall of the eyes. I

A description will now be given of the manner of supporting and guidingthe rod 40. A wire guide bar 4| is mounted on the frame 4 between thetop plate 3|] anda guide bar slide 42, which is secured to the frame byscrews '43 that extend into the frame 4 andinto an angle support 44 thatis secured to the frame 4. The guide bar slide 42 is beveled on itsunderside, as indicated at 45, with the beveled corner fitting into amilled slot in the guide bar 4|, thus holding the guide bar 4| againstmovement forwardly or rearwardly of the frame. -The guide bar 4| has athumb plate 46 secured thereto whereby it may be gripped for slidingmovement transversely of the machine, and it has a pair of pins 47-41that cooperate with a pin 48 in the guide bar slide 42 for limiting themovement of the guide bar in each direction. The angle support 44has-a'flange 49 at the top rear'thereof for guiding the rear side of theguide bar 4|. At its right hand, as

seen in Figure 2, the guide bar 4| has a wire guide pin 50 securedthereto. The rod 40 has an eye or loop 5| at one end, which loosely andslidably embraces the wire guide pin 50, and is held .against retractionfrom the pin 50 by the head formed therein, of uniform width, formingridges V a width approximately equal to the space between In additionthe adjacent fingers 30f the binder.

top plate 36 has a number of uniformly spaced of a screw 52' thatthreads into the pin 50.

A guide tube 55 is mounted at the upper end of a guide tube bracket 56that is secured to the hook support carrier bar 2|, in a position withthe guide tube in alignment with the eyes 2| of the spreader hooks 25.The forward end of the rod 40 slides freely through the guide tube 55.It is thus apparent that as the ,guide bar 4| is moved to the left fromthe position illustrated in Figure 2, the rod 46, guided through theguide tube 55, will pass through the'respective eyes 29 of thespreaderhooks 25.

A feeder plate 6|] issecured to the frame 4 and constitutes a supportfor stacks of pages to be bound or for binders, as illustrated ingFigure2. The forward end of the feeder plate overguide rods I4 to'facilitateadjustment of the lock nuts l9 on'theguide rods irom abovethe machine.-I i An explanation will nowbe given'of the manner of inserting a binderin' a stack of pages having aligned perforations, by means of themachine of the present invention. A binder such as is illustrated inFigure 1- is positioned on the top 'plate30 of the machine, with theback portion 2 of the binder rearwardly of the spring wire spreader pins35, and with the pins 35 extending through the spaces between adjacentfingers 3 of the binder so that the fingers 3 of the binder lie over thegrooves 32 of the top plate, and the ridges 33 extend into the spacebetween the fingers of the binder. .The guide bar 4| is then slid to theleft from the position illustrated in Figure 2, thus sliding the wire 49through the guide tube 55 into the eyes 21 of the respective spreaderhooks 25, the rod 45 passing into'the binder. The connecting rod 9 isthen pulled downwardly, as by operating the foot treadle, thus rotatingthe operating shaft 6 in a direction counter-clockwise as seen in Figure5. The lock nuts H] are adjusted on the guide rods 4 for the size ofbinder used so that the lock nuts abut against the frame 4 and limit themovement of the mechanism to such an extent that the fingers of thebinder are spread sufficiently to permit insertion of a stack of sheetsto be bound but without allowing the ends of the fingers 3 to escapefrom under the rod 40. A stack of pages 65, to be bound, having alignedperforations 66 spaced apart corresponding to the spacings of thefingers 3 of the binder and of a width sufiicient to receive the fingers3, is then positioned over the top plate 3, against the pins 35, in themanner illustrated in Figures and 6, so that the slots or perforationsin the stack of pages are in a position to I receive the fingers 3 ofthe binder when the binder is permitted to recurl. Thereafter theoperator permits the connecting rod 9 to rise, under the action of thespring 2|], thus causing the rod 40 and the spreader hooks 25 to movetowards their initial position, that is, the position illustrated inFigure 4. The binder has suficient resiliency so that its resilientlimit has not been exceeded when it has been uncurled to the positionillustrated in Figure 5, and will recurl under its own resiliency to itsoriginal tubular shape when the uncurling force is released. Thereforeas the spreader fingers and the rod 40 move from the positionillustrated in Figure 5 to the position illustrated in Figure 4 thefingers recurl and pass through the perforations 66. If the operator haspositioned the stack of pages 65 slightly too high or too low withrespect to the fingers 3 she can soon notice this and appropriatelyraise or lower the stack of pages.

It is to be noted that the pins 35 are located at the very ends of theridges 33, as may be seen more fully in Figure 2A. The ends of theridges 33 are milled off slightly, as indicated at 33', so that theridges are of slightly less width at their rearmost end although of thesame height above the bases of the grooves 32. When the binder l ispositioned on the inserting machine with the pins 35 extending throughthe spaces between adjacent fingers 3, the tapered edges 33' of theridges 33 fit into the curved spaces at the crotches between twoadjacent fingers so that'the'backZ of the binderlies'on the plate 6|!with the fingers 3 lyingtwin' the grooves 32 and the crotches betweenadjacent fingers 3 bearing" against the pins 35 and adjacent the rearends of'the ridges 33. This assures proper positioning of. the binderinthe uncurled machined During the uncurling operation the fingers 3-'roll in the grooves 32 wherein they fit, and are thus held bythe'ridges 33 against sidemovement. During the recurling operation theridges 33 maintain the fingers .in parallel'alignment so that thefinger-s always come opposite the perforations 5B in the stack of "pagesto be bound. After the pages have been bound, as illustrated in Figure6, the guide bar 4| is again moved to the right, back to the positionillustrated in Figure 1, so that the rod or wire 40 is withdrawn fromthe eyes 21 in the spreader hooks 25, thus permitting the withdrawal ofthe stack of pages 65 together with the binder I.

An assembled book or stack of pages can be disassembled in a mannersimilar to the assembly operation, as may be necessary for the removalor addition of a sheet. The assembled book is first positioned againstthe pins 35, as illustrated in Figure 6, with the pins passing betweenadjacent fingers 3 and between the back sheet and the back 2 of thebinder. The rod or wire 40 is then slid through the eyes 29, to theposition illustrated in Figure 6, and the fingers are spread open asbefore, the fingers being thus withdrawn from the perforations in thestack of sheets, thereby'permitting withdrawal of the stack of sheetsfrom the binder while the binder is held in the machine bythe rod 40.The fingers may then be permitted to recurl and the rod 40 then bewithdrawn from the eyes 29, thus permitting removal 'of the binder fromthe machine.

It is to be noted that because of the curved portions 36 in the spreaderpins 35 and because of the slots 28 in the spreader hooks the rod orwire 40 may be positioned closer to the back portion 2 of the binderthan would be possible if the wire 35 did not have the kink or curvedportion 35, or if the eyes 29 in the spreader hooks 25 did not have theslots 28. By reason of this fact binders of much smaller diameter may beused on the machine described than would be possible if the pins 35 werestraight. This is so because the slots 28 in the spreader hooks 25permit the circular eyes 29 to move closer to the back 2 of the binder,hence they do not project as far forwardly of the pins 35 as would bethe case if the slots 28 were omitted. Thus it is possible to use verysmall diameter binders on the machine above described, that is, bindershaving a minimum diameter only slightly in excess of the diameter of theeyes 29. Also, by reason of the guiding grooves or slots 32 in the table30, it is possible to use binders of very large diameter with theassurance that as the fingers are uncurled and recurl they will notunder any circumstances flex sideways on the table.

During the use of the machine, the rod or wire 40 is always guided bythe tube 55, which is always in alignment with the eyes 29, so that therod 40 can readily be slid into position extending through all of theeyes 29 by moving the guide bar 4| to the left. When the machine isoperated to uncurl the fingers of the binder the guide tube M. Thispermits a ready. manipulation of the machine. 7?

While I have herein described the machine of the present invention asused in connection with a binder of the type shown in the patent toDouvry, above referredto, it is to be understood that the machine may beused for uncurling various different kinds of binders.

In compliance with the requirements ofv the patent statutes We have hereshown and described a preferred embodiment of our invention. It is,however, to be understood that the invention is not limited to theprecise construction here shown, the same being merely i11ustrative ofthe principles of the invention. What we consider new and desire tosecure byLetters :Patent is:

pins, each loop having .a slot therein opposite a pin so that the loop'is movable into a position rearward of the forward endofa pin andembracing a pin, andmeans for moving said loopsrin unison toward or awayfrom said row of pins.

,C. B NELSON. .ISIDORE SPINNER.

